376 tons of hoarded kerosene confiscated

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The police seized 376 tons of hoarded kerosene in West and East Java on Friday and arrested dozens of speculators who hoped to profit from expected fuel price hikes.

Of the 376 tons of hoarded kerosene, 296 tons were seized in West Java, 15 tons in East Java and 65 tons in East Kalimantan. The police, in cooperation with state oil and gas company Pertamina and the Attorney General's Office, have also staged raids in other provinces, but there was no information on the amount of kerosene confiscated from fuel speculators in these provinces.

The police also arrested dozens of distributors guilty of hoarding the basic commodity and several security personnel who backed them.

The police confiscated thousands of tons of hoarded kerosene in numerous regions after Pertamina offered the police 50 percent of the confiscated kerosene as an incentive for them to capture hoarders and help put an end to the widespread shortage.

Sr. Comr. Sardjono, chief of the Cirebon City Police, denied that the police had launched the antihoarding operation to receive the incentive.

"The incentive offered by Pertamina has no direct relation to the operation launched by the police to fight hoarding. It is our main task to crack down on hoarding fuel, which has created serious unrest among the people across the country," he said in Indramayu on Friday.

He said the local police had confiscated more than 500 tons of hoarded kerosene and arrested nine distributors who stored it in their underground tanks.

"We will process the speculators who are being investigated in accordance with the law," he said, adding that several security personnel had also been arrested for backing hoarders.

He said the suspects faced possible six-year jail sentences and fines of Rp 60 million in accordance with Law No. 22/2001 on energy.

Sardjono acknowledged that hoarding fuel had caused a chain reaction that had affected local people. "Besides increasing difficulties for the people to cook and to have lighting, it has also caused hikes in the prices of other basic commodities," he said.

He cited that besides having to purchase items at high prices, local people had to queue for hours every day to buy kerosene at outlets in traditional markets and at distributor outlets.

"The price of kerosene has risen drastically to between Rp 1,500 and Rp 2,000, but the normal price is only Rp 515 per liter. It is ironic that the price of kerosene is higher than that of premium gasoline, which is sold at Rp 1,450 per liter," he said.

The government will increase fuel prices by between 20 percent and 30 percent later this month.

In Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, Adj. Sr. Comr. Kodirum Karya, chief of the Balipapan Police station, said besides arresting eight speculators, the local police had also confiscated 65 tons of kerosene and diesel fuel in underground tanks.

He said Hartoyo and Ponimin, who hoarded diesel fuel and kerosene in their house, were being interrogated and their dossiers would be handed over to the local Attorney General's Office to be processed in accordance with the law.

Ponimin denied hoarding 25 tons of diesel fuel he bought from several gas stations in the town. "I bought the diesel to be supplied to a number factories in town," he said.

In Surabaya, East Java Police chief Insp. Gen. Sutanto said the police had confiscated more than 400 tons of hoarded kerosene in several regencies in the province.

"Today (Friday), we seized a total of 15 tons of hoarded kerosene in Jombang, Gresik and Surabaya and arrested 11 speculators," he said.

The people were arrested because they lacked the necessary permits from the local Pertamina office to store more than one ton of kerosene, he said.

In Medan, North Sumatra, National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said the police had arrested 80 people allegedly involved in hoarding fuel in various provinces this week.

"The police will not tolerate the practice of hoarding, which has created serious unease in society," he said, adding that the police would also take strict measures against policemen found guilty of backing up the practice.